A federal judge has barred the Department of Defense, under Secretary Pete Hegseth, from enforcing a policy that required reporters to have escorts within the Pentagon building. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
July 1 (UPI) -- A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Defense Department from enforcing its escort policy, at least for reporters with The New York Times, dealing another blow to the Trump administration's attempt to restrict media access at the Pentagon.
It was not entirely clear whether the order applied to all credentialed reporters or just those associated with The New York Times.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in D.C. issued his preliminary injunction Tuesday, finding the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claims that the escort policy was retaliatory and infringed on their First Amendment rights.
"This Court has spoken at several points about the critical importance of protecting the freedoms enshrined in the First Amendment, and that evergreen principle bears repeating: 'Those who drafted the First Amendment believed that the nation's security requires a free press and an informed people and that such security is endangered by government suppression of political speech,'" Friedman said in his Tuesday opinion, quoting from one of his previous opinions in the case.
